This invention relates to an improved rope ladder.
Rope ladders can be used for many purposes, such as emergency escapes from buildings and so on, but a leading use is for embarcation and debarcation of vessels, such as merchant vessels, especially by pilots. Since the risks involved are large when pilots use these ladders at sea, they must be made very safe, and the U.S. Coast Guard has rigid specifications which must be met by them.
Heretofore, in order to meet the high standards of the U.S. Coast Guard, rope ladders have been made very slowly by hand. Four ropes have been used for each ladder, arranged in two pairs. Above and below each step the ropes of each pair have been tied together by hand. Even so, this method of making rope ladders has not proven foolproof and weaknesses have developed; for example, the ties may fray or be cut, as is not unlikely when the rope ladder is used on a pitching and tossing ship.
An object of the present invention is to provide a safer and more reliable rope ladder meeting the standards of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rope ladder which even though superior to those in use, can be made less expensively, and therefore can be made less expensively than can rope ladders presently approved by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rope ladder incorporating metal parts that exert a wedging action that secures the steps to the ropes.
Another object of the invention is to provide metal replacement parts for the rope ladder of this invention.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of the invention.